Secret Guardians
by ThraeNavnik
Summary: The Ninja are back! Only it seems Ninjago's past is not all as it seemed. With the arrival of strange eggs, the Ninja are forced into another crazy land, though this could be the adventure where the bad guys finally kill them off. If they don't kill each other first.
1. Prologue

_It's been far too long since we left Ninjago to it's solitary life. They have forgotten us, made their children believe that we were just stories their parents made up to scare them into being good, made into fictional beings only existing in stories, movies, games, made us into creatures that were as important into the creation of this world as a mouse would be to a whale. _

_Only we still do exist. Just an ocean away, too far for them to see but close enough to sail to our shores and they don't even think twice about trying to find us. They never turned their attention away from their isolated continent, separated from the other two._

_They have forgotten how their continent came to be, how it was not the Golden Master who created it but a far more powerful being. They have forgotten that the Golden Master merely brought life back to the land that They abandoned because of the warring snake tribes. _

_In the beginning there was not the Golden Master. In the beginning there was Arceus._

_No one knows where Arceus came from. Some say he came from a distant planet. Others say he was formed from stardust. Whatever his origin he used his power to create a world. Our world. And with this world he created Mew, the first life to exist on our planet. _

_Mew and Arceus were good friends. However Mew grew sad to see how our world was only a giant rock orbiting a star. Arceus, thinking Mew was lonely, created Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. To Palkia he gave the gift of Space, to Dialga Time. Giratina grew jealous and demanded a gift. In rage when he was denied he attacked Arceus and was sent to a parallel dimension, imprisoned there for all of eternity. _

_While exploring the barren world, Mew discovered that she too had a power; the power to create living creatures. Using these powers she created other Mew. These Mew could change their appearance and did so until there were countless different Mew, hardly any of the same species. Amused, the first Mew copied these forms and made them their own species._

_But then they began to die. The first Mew, being immortal, was concerned for her creations. She begged Arceus to help so he created Groudon and Kyogre. While Kyogre created the oceans, Groudon made sure there was still land for Mew's creations to live upon. Rayquaza, god of the sky, helped create a suitable atmosphere to keep the world alive._

_Along the way Arceus created Cresselia, goddess of the moon and Ho-Oh, god of the sun. When Mew saw her creations were still not doing well, Arceus helped bring plants to life. The life thrived but it seemed the plants were dying quickly, leaving the poor inhabitants of the world with little to no food. _

_So Arceus brought in Lugia, the goddess of storms. Lugia brought water to the plants and gave them life. Ho-Oh, however, was frustrated that the plants where Lugia's storm was at were not getting enough sun. He and Lugia fought until Arceus decided to create Tornadus, the god of wind. Tornadus blew Lugia's clouds apart and allowed seeds to blow along the wind to spread plants elsewhere. _

_Lugia was still not happy. She felt her storms were too plain being just a waterfall of water. She asked Arceus to help and in return he created Zapdos, the god of Lightning and Thunderous, the god of Thunder. _

_Meanwhile Arceus found that the land was too flat. He and the legendaries came up with an idea; why not create large ridges of earth and rock to make the world more interesting? So Arceus created Regigigas, the god of Mountains. _

_When Arceus noticed how Mew's creations were overpopulating, he created Yveltal and Xerneas, gods of death and life. With them came Zygarde, the god of balance. Zygarde made sure Yveltal and Xerneas did not create or more lives than needed. _

_All seemed well but Mew found the plants were growing far too fast and wide. She asked Arceus to create a winter and so he did. He created Articuno, the goddess of snow to help, and Regice, the god of ice to freeze the lakes and rivers. _

_Finding the lakes and rivers needed someone to watch them, he created Suicune to help keep them pure and clean for the creatures to drink. _

_Still, the ice and snow was not doing the job so Arceus created Moltres, the god of wildfires to burn down the rotting and overgrown trees so newer and healthier plants could grow._

_Eventually more and more gods appeared, Hetran, the goddess of volcanoes, appeared one day from a hollow mountain filled with lava. This was a shock to everyone, but they were happy to have a new friend to help care for the world. _

_Deoxys, god of comets and asteroids appeared one day and kept the harmful space rocks from getting too close to the planet while Rayquaza occasionally helped._

_When Mew's creations began to grow smarter, along came Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf, the gods and goddess of knowledge, will power, and emotion. They helped give the creatures of the world personalities which made their lives much more interesting. _

_During this time came Latias and Latios, the god and goddess of protection. They protected the young as best they could so they could live to be adults and live their lives happily._

_Once they discovered music, Molletta appeared and Arceus granted her the position of the Goddess of song and dance. At the same time, the god of victory, Victini was born. Diance appeared one day out of a cave, and the goddess of jewels shared her riches with the world along with Registeel, god of Ores and Regirock, god of minerals._

_When the earth began to shake, the residents of the planet panicked. Furious, Arceus demanded to know who was scaring his friend's creations. When Landerous appeared, instead of striking him down Arceus asked if he would like to be the god of earthquakes, only shaking the earth when needed, Landerous agreed to this offer as long as a few friends could join him in his godly status._

_Thus Entei, god of controlled fires and Raikou, god of electricity joined the ranks among the gods._

_Suddenly a newcomer arrived; Mewtwo. Mewtwo was a clone of Mew who had gifted some of the creatures of the world with special abilities; attacks that could only harm another with these powers. Mew was happy to give Mewtwo the title of a god. From then on the clone was known as the god of pokemon attacks._

_Unfortunately wars broke out and with them Zekrom was born. Zekrom, the god of war was unhappy with the creatures below and asked for help. The legendaries did what they could to end the war and when it ended Zekrom's brother Reshiram, the god of peace, came into being._

_And peace there was. For a time. Eventually some creatures lived a life of crime. Four pokemon rose to keep this crime from spreading; Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, and Keldeo. These four pokemon came up with a system to keep the outlaws at bay and became the Swords of Justice, creators of the Exploration Teams. _

_After the creation of the Exploration Teams came Jirachi, the god of wishes. He granted a single wish to anyone who could find him and defeat him in battle. Luckily that didn't happen often. _

_Celebi was discovered and was revealed to have been there a while, caring for the plants and forests. Unfortunately she was unable to do much for the flowers. They were dying too quickly and no amount of her time traveling could help._

_During this time lonely Giratina was busy in the Reverse World, watching Arceus's world grow and thrive. Saddened by the solitude, Giratina created Shaymin, a small little pokemon with the power to create flowers. _

_When Arceus arrived to speak to Giratina he was surprised to see how well the flowers were doing. He allowed Giratina to go back and forth between his world and the Reverse World, but only if Shaymin could keep the flowers alive. Giratina agreed and created herds of the little pokemon and sent them into the world, keeping the first with him so he could have a companion._

_Far in the north, Kyurem was busy. He was created in a time between peace and war but remained in the north, controlling the icebergs and keeping them from drifting too far south. He became known as the god of icebergs and the god of absence. When asked by Mew if he would like to come to the mainland, he refused, saying that he rather liked the solitude of the north._

_In the ocean, a small Manaphy was born. Kyogre noticed how this little creature could build colorful structures for the sea creatures to live him and gave him the name 'Prince of the Sea'. Manaphy was known as the god of coral reefs and sea currents, and a friend to all who lived in the oceans._

_For years there was peace._

_And then technology came about. _

_During this time Gensect arrived, the god of technology. The others found him odd but welcomed him into the group. _

_However the Serpentine began to cause some terrible trouble. The tribes warred constantly with each other and many of the other creatures perished when they got caught in between a fight. Sometimes the snaked just killed out of pure spite. _

_Furious, the gods did what they could but the serpentine would not stop. Eventually Groudon was asked to break apart the continents. Demons, Pokemon, and humans and serpentine were kept on separate continents. _

_For some unknown reason the continents with humans and serpentine collided. By this time the gods had abandoned the land of serpentine, and did nothing to help the humans._

_The humans created the sacred flutes and sealed away the serpentine. But their years of war were not over. The Overlord arrived came about and of course the Golden Master came and the humans know this story well. _

_Except for one part._

_The Golden Master did not create Ninjago. He merely restored it. After the war with the Serpentine and Overlord was over, the land was barren and lifeless. Without the gods to help them, there seemed to be little hope for the humans. Fortunately for them, the Golden Master was able to use the golden weapons to restore life to the continent. _

_Since the breaking of the continents however humans never came in contact with demons or pokemon again. Now they've forgotten us and how we all lived in the same land together._

_However this will change. I have grown tired of the separation and have ordered a small shipment of abandoned pokemon eggs to be sent to the current protectors of Ninjago, the ninja, and hopefully the three continents can be at peace once more. My only concern is that the Overlord's return has awakened an old evil within our land._

_Still, we must do what we can to keep the residents of our world from completely forgetting each other. If that were to happen then I'm afraid there's little hope for us if this evil has returned. We are all in danger, even those who are oblivious to our existence. _


	2. Chapter 1

**I have a lot of things planned out, but I will GLADLY take any suggestions you guys give me. Now, I won't be able to use every OC every idea but I will try to get them in there somehow.**

**THIS IS IMPORTANT. Apparently when I mentioned being unable to update often in the last chapter/prologue, no one seemed to read it. Here is a list as to why I cannot update as often as everyone else, so no this story will not die anytime soon,**

**1\. Stress. This is a BIG one. When I get stressed, I get bad migraines and fevers. I've got a mental problem to where I have to please everyone because I've always grown up in unhappy places with unhappy people around me. So I try to do everything that will please someone but the problem is humans tend to NEVER be pleased. This makes me have a mini panic attack which causes my migraines. And mine aren't just a bit of an ache. I feel like one of those machines in a scrap yard that turn cars into little squares is crushing my head. It's painful, not fun, and makes it hard to focus.**

**2\. School. School's another cause for my stress. Plus I've been gone a lot this year between getting sick, injured, and doctor appointments. I have to get an Allergy shot because my allergies are really bad every Tuesday. Recently I was gone because I got a virus. I would have written while I had the virus, but it's hard to focus when you're coughing every five seconds. I also sprained my ankle really bad this year. I'm really behind and with finals and EOIs I NEED to pass to graduate this week through the end of school, I have little time to write anything. High school's not as fun as you think kids. Enjoy all the time you have in middle and elementary school because you WILL miss it.**

**3\. I have other hobbies. I recently got Minecraft and there's a PMD MMO I like to play. I am also currently writing a book. I like to draw as well and play other games. I can't focus all my time on writing fanfics. **

**4\. Hand cramps. This goes along with the migraines. Like them, it's painful, not fun, and hard to focus with. Not much else needs to be said.**

**5\. Takes time to write. It seems people thing that the words just magically appear when you write, but this is far from true. You need to make sure the spelling and grammar is right, along with the plot, planning, pace, characters, all of these things are not as easy as you think. It takes a lot of time and patience to write anything, which is why books take so long to write. It's not just because of the length but because of the character development. Stories get boring if things aren't done write and you lost interest and it turns into a bad book or story. This goes with TV shows as well. There's no magic in it, just a lot of careful planning and patience. **

**That's all I have to say, if you guys keep begging I will send you a PM to remind you to read this. As for guests, you're on your own with it, sorry. **

**Zane's P.O.V.**

The moment my eyes opened, I knew something was wrong. The monastery was almost too quiet. I slowly got up despite being exhausted, and glanced at the clock. I let out a soft sigh as I stared at the time. 5:29 AM. I only had an hour and a half left to rest. I was about to lie back down when something caught my eye. A small red and black egg sat in the corner. Frowning, I got out of bed and walked over, picking it up and almost dropping it. The egg had a thin layer of frost and was quite cold despite the warm summer night. I almost thought it to be dead until I felt a slight bit of movement within it, as if the growing creature inside were responding to my touch. I continued to hold the egg, wondering who could have left it when I heard a shout and a loud thud. Startled, I almost dropped the egg I was holding. Kai burst into the room, holding an orange dog with black stripes and two claws on both front paws by it's scruff.

"What the hell is this thing!?" He screamed. A normal morning, Kai waking up cursing his throat out.

"If I knew, I would tell you. Unfortunately I have never seen such a creature before." I replied, frowning. Cole peered out of his room, looking a little more than upset.

"Kai, go back to be- what is that?" Cole walked over, staring at the creature. Kai glared at him, a clear signal that he was far from a good mood. Another morning ritual for him. Kai had never been a morning person, so he was always in a bad mood in the mornings. The little dog squirmed out of Kai's grip and sat on the floor. I wondered where Jay was, but then again he was a heavy sleeper, as was Lloyd. Nya was most likely just ignoring her bother's upset screaming.

"Where did you get the egg?" Cole asked me. Kai seemed to remember I was there and glanced at the egg, showing as much distaste for it as the dog that rested upon the ground at his feet.

"I found it in my room. I still do not know what it is or where it came from." I walked back to my bed.

"Where are you going?" Kai asked, a furious look on his face.

"To sleep. I still have a while left to sleep, and I intend to use it." I told them, a small hint for them to get out. They seemed to get it, for the two left, arguing in hushed voices with the dog following with happy little yaps. I shook my head, setting the egg on the nightstand next to my bed. I laid back down, but found myself unable to sleep. Frustrated I decided a walk would help and quietly made my way out of the monastery.

I made my way to the forest, a little worried by the silence I had been greeted with. Usually there was some sort of noise in the forest from an owl or two, but even the nocturnal creatures were silent. I pulled out my sword, ready for a fight if one decided to find me. Eventually I came to the river. I had never seen it at night, for I never ventured that far from the monastery, but I could immediately see something wrong. Blood specked the stepping stones, and it looked fresh. I followed the trail to a bush where it ended abruptly. I turned and was about to head back, but in my way was a creature I had heard of only in tales. She looked human except for her demonic eyes that were a deep blue, cat like ears and a cat like tail. A jagged scar ran along her shoulder, and her torn short sleeved shirt covered the rest of it though I suspected it reached her spine. Her sapphire eyes were cold and she stared at me as if already planning my death. A cut ran along her left calf, and she appeared to be bruised in several other places.

"Svabol tir wux tuor, munthrek?" She hissed. I was startled once more as she spoke to me in a language I had never heard of before. I frowned. From her expression I thought it to be a hostile remark, but I did not want to make the mistake of reacting badly to a simple question. I did the only thing I could in such a situation.

"My apologies, but I do not understand what you are asking me." I held up my hands in slight defeat and to show I was not a threat. Her eyes remained cold and expressionless, though she blinked in what I guessed was confusion. Perhaps I was the first human she had met or she understood me as much as I understood her. Either way she didn't seem to calm.

"Xsio, I forgot. Humans do not know our language. What do you want?" I was taken aback by her voice. It was deep and mature, though definitely female. A slight growl was imbedded in it, perhaps an accent of sort, though she could have just been angry.

"You are hurt." I dodged the question. Her left ear twitched and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I know that. What do you want?" She repeated. I sighed. There was no getting out of this question.

"I saw the blood and I was concerned. I wanted to make sure that whoever it belonged to was not seriously injured. I will leave if you wish." She blinked once more in surprise to my comment.

"You are certainly an odd one." She murmured softly. She appeared to relax, though I doubt she would stay that way for much longer.

"I get that a lot." I joked. Another cold look.

"Raelgil." She said after a long moment of silence. Now it was my turn to blink in confusion.

"What?"

"My name, xsiol malai." She hissed at me. Different language or not, I knew an insult when I heard one. I did the wise thing and held my tongue. The last thing I wanted was to be on the bad side of this demon.

"I am known as Zane." The edge of her lips twitched, as though she were trying hard not to smile. I relaxed and gave her a warm smile, holding out my hand. Her tail bristled and she gave me an odd look, as if she didn't fully comprehend why I was doing it. I decided to drop my hand to avoid any further confusion.

"Does your name have a translation?" I asked, shifting uncomfortably. "I do not want to mispronounce it."

"It means Crystal in your language." She replied hastily. "That is all you need to know about me." I nodded in silence. I did not want to leave, but I would have to go back home soon. I could not afford to be exhausted during training.

"I must go. Will you be here tomorrow?" I asked her. Finally she showed emotion; confusion and slight fear.

"Perhaps, but I will not make a promise to one of your kind." She replied swiftly. I wasn't sure if that was meant to sound like an insult or not.

On my way back to the monastery, I thought I heard some sort of curse and I saw a small flash of red in the corner of my eye, though I thought nothing of it.

**Raelgil's P.O.V.**

I watched the odd human as he left. I never thought much for humans, in fact I disliked them greatly. However this one appeared different from all the rest. Much different. I could tell immediately he was not human. I could not hear a single heartbeat and he had a strong metallic scent. My ears twitched as someone else entered the cave, and I failed to suppress a hiss of surprise and anger.

"Hey, Rael. Miss me?" Standing at the entrance to a cave was a short man with a long thin tail with an arrow shaped spade at the end. Two wings were folded neatly at his sides and when opened each would be longer than he was tall. Two ram-like horns were on his head as well, bright red hair surrounding them. His hair was long enough to be pulled up in a short ponytail, and his bright blue eyes stared at me in respect and amusement.

"What do you want, Ricardo?" I hissed. "I'm honestly not in the mood for this right now." My tail lashed as I glared at the male.

"I needed to know what idiot thing you did this time. Seriously, every time I leave your side you always get hurt." He shook his head in mock pity. "It's getting real tiring having to babysit the queen all the time."

Ricardo and I knew each other for a long time, even before I became a queen, but perhaps I should start at the beginning to avoid any...confusion.

I was born in a small village that received most of it's trade from the water. At some point a human ship crashed upon our shore and with the survivors came illness. My parents were few of the last to die. Their bodies had to be burned to prevent the disease from spreading and since I was so young I misunderstood it and ran. I ended up meeting up with a nice couple of cat demons and they took me in despite my half human heritage. Later on I decided to set out on my own. I met with a dragon named Mazdak and I stayed with him for a majority of my life until he was killed in a territory battle against another dragon. The dragon forced me out and of course I was on my own. Again. That didn't stop me from befriending a dwarf dragon by the name of Tundar and then later I met Ricardo after he stole my necklace and used it as blackmail to help him steal some things. I began to grow fond of the little incubus and I decided to stay with him for a while longer even after he gave me my necklace back. We traveled for a while longer before we accidentally saved the king of the land from some bandits. He invited us to stay in his castle and we took it. Staying in a tiny little shack didn't help our health much anyway. Eventually he was killed despite our attempts to protect him, and he surprisingly made _me_ of all people his heir for he had no children of his own. And so I became the queen and everything from there on was boring and very forgetful. Ricardo was in charge of all the warriors or knights and served as a personal bodyguard for me as well. He had recently left to go take care of something elsewhere, probably his elven 'sister', and I had most certainly not expected him to show up in _Ninjago_ of all places. Damn incubus seemed to always find me when I didn't want him to.

"Shut up and help me leave this cave." I snapped. He laughed and knelt beside me, gently scratching one of my ears. I forced back a purr. I did _not _want him getting any ideas. He stopped and undid the bandage, examining my wound.

"Who did this to you?" He asked, his eyes narrowed. Ricardo was much too overprotective for his own good sometimes.

"No one, don't worry about it." I replied.

"Rael, I'll kill anyone if you want me to. Just say the words and they're dead. Who hurt you?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Then who bandaged you?"

"Not telling you that either- _Ricardo Mateo Belmonte where is that hand going?_" I could feel his hand beginning to travel up my leg. Should have expected this from an incubus.

"I was checking for nerve damage is all." He replied swiftly, bandaging my leg back up. "Looks like you're alright though." He sat down.

"What are you doing now?" I hissed at him. He glanced over at me, wrapping a wing around me as he pulled me closer to him so that my head rested against his chest.

"Get some rest. I don't want to risk moving you." He whispered in a soft voice. I growled softly and shoved him so that he fell over with a yelp.

"I'm not tired. Get me out of here." I ordered. Ricardo mumbled something. "What was that?"

"I _said_ 'I travel all the way across the sea to rescue my beloved queen and then _this_ is how she repays me.'" He let out an exaggerated sigh. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Enough with the drama, I can't afford to sit here and you know it." I retorted. Ricardo frowned when he realized his pretend-to-be-hurt-feelings didn't work on me. Honestly, I thought he had learned I was not one for jokes by that point.

"C'mon, Rael." He sat up and patted my head, making me debate on whether to bite his hand or not. "You have to rest. I don't want you to-" He froze, glancing at the entrance. I could feel him tense up. His left hand slowly moved to his belt which he kept most of his knives in. My ears laid back as I realized he must have heard something that I didn't. Being an ex-thief, Ricardo was a trained assassin and could find clues and hear things that would normally escape me, making him a valuable partner. Not once had we been successfully robbed from while traveling thanks to his reputation and sharp wit.

"Svabol ui coi?" I whispered. Ricardo frowned as he glanced back at me before gazing back at the entrance to the cave.

"Creolna ui confnir. Itrewic krathin ekess osvith." He replied in a soft whisper.

"Yes, because I can always run normally with a gash in my leg." I snapped. He shot me an annoyed look, surprising me. Ricardo hardly ever grew tired of my remarks unless he was worried or scared. I couldn't tell which was more noticeable in his eyes; fear or concern. Either way, it was not a good sign. I looked up as the ninja walked back into the cave, carrying a heavy blanket. He froze at the sight of Ricardo, who already had a knife in each hand.

"I suppose you are a friend?" The ninja, Zane, asked. Ricardo was silent as he glared at him.

"Ricardo, calm yourself. Zane is the one who helped me, there is no need to fear him." I tried to calm my old friend, but even I didn't sound all that convinced myself. Zane seemed kind at first glance, but there was no telling what ran through his mechanical mind. Zane hesitated for a moment before draping the blanket over me.

"I was worried so I asked for my sensei to give me the day off. My friends do not know about you yet." Ricardo mumbled about humans being too curious for their own good as he put his knives away, wincing and clutching his left wrist.

"Ricky? Are you alright?" I asked. He nodded silently. Ricardo's right hand had been injured a long time ago, and hadn't healed right. It still hurt from time to time, though he had grown used to it.

"Yeah. It's just this cold." He answered me swiftly. Zane frowned as he glanced over. This mechanical human was much too trusting and sympathetic. It almost made me want to tear his circuits out myself, though I forced myself not to. I was almost relieved he had found me, and that was reason enough not to harm him.

"Perhaps you could come stay with-" He never got to finish before Ricardo leaped to his feet, screaming in both our native languages and english.

"Thric idol persvek uoinota! Si usted cree honestamente que voy a estar de acuerdo con esto, entonces usted tiene otra cosa que viene! I am _not _going anywhere near your filthy-"

"Ricardo." I said sternly. He paused and glanced back at me, his eyes blazing in rage. "He didn't mean to insult us. I honestly think that's our best bet at the moment. Would you rather me bleed to death or freeze? This blanket will not protect me forever."

"I can keep an eye on your wound _and_ keep you warm." Ricardo protested. "I've done it bef-" He stopped when he realized what my plan was. Grumbling, he picked me up and ordered the ninja to lead us to his home. Zane frowned and led us to a monastery, making sure to keep us hidden from our friends. He led us to a room towards the back.

"No one comes in here." He explained. "You should be safe until I tell my friends and Sensei what is going on."

"And if they refuse to let us stay?" I questioned. He never answered.

**That does it for this chapter. Remember, can't always update and I am open to suggestions, especially with what couples you want to see. Remember to PM me your OCs otherwise I will not use them!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Summer is finally here everyone! And it's about freaking time! I've got more time to work on my fanfics, though I've also got other things I'm working on as side projects as well, so I won't update too often. You're gonna hate me at the end of this chapter.**

**No One's P.O.V.**

Cole, Jay, and Kai rushed through a forest as they tracked some weird creature that someone had reported lurking near a village. Zane had to stay back after Crystal had caught a fever, and Ricardo was absolutely no help at all. Lloyd and Nya had stayed behind to keep an eye on the odd creatures that hatched from the eggs, though Kai was forced to bring his as it wouldn't stop following him.

"I don't see anything." Jay stopped at the top of a tall tree, looking around. "Maybe it lef-HEY!" He grabbed the trunk , trembling as a small creature flew past him, landing in the next tree. It chirped, glancing over at him.

"Watch it!" He snapped. "You could've killed me, you crazy bird!" He waved his fist at the thing, though had to stop to grab the trunk as the wind picked up and nearly threw him off the branch.

"That's not any bird I've ever seen before." Cole stared at it in confusion. The tiny bird had a red head and silver body with white markings at the tip of it's wings and a triangular yellow mark behind each eye. At the base of the tail were two feathers and the tip of the tail split with a V shaped white stripe at the middle.

"Hush." Kai snapped at his little dog, which was barking and growling at the bird. It stopped immediately and sat down, glaring at the bird. The little bird chirped at it, flapping it's wings in anger before taking off and flying down, pecking at it. The dog growled and barked, though didn't fight back.

"Apparently it doesn't like dogs." Jay climbed down from the tree, watching the two while Kai tried to shoo the bird away, only to get pecked on the head for it. His dog snarled and tackled the bird which cried out in alarm, pecking the dog before the pup barked and shot a small ember at the bird, hitting it square in the chest. The bird chirped and hit the ground, slowly getting to it's feet and flying up into a tree, calling down what had to be threats and curses at the dog.

"Good boy, Blaze." Kai grinned, patting the dog's head. Blaze barked and wagged his tail, licking Kai's hand. "They might not be so bad after all."

"You think that bird is one of them?" Cole asked, walking over. Kai nodded, picking up Blaze.

"Most likely." He replied, glancing up. "You think that's the one they were talking about?"

"I guess so." Jay mumbled. "They did say it was kind of territorial. There could be more of them."

"Birds do like to live in flocks." Cole added. "Maybe it was carried here by that storm?"

"If that's the case then there could be more than just this one species." Kai sighed. "We should head home and keep an eye out for any more reports."

As they headed back, Kai became aware of the little bird hopping and gliding from tree to tree, following them. He tried to ignore it, though it was difficult with the soft songs it sang. Once they got home, the bird landed on the roof, chirping.

"It followed us." Jay stated, a look of confusion on his face

"Actually it followed _me_." Kai walked back to his room, the bird following. Cole sighed and walked back to his own room while Jay rushed off to hang out with Nya.

**Cole's P.O.V.**

The rest of the day was pretty normal for us. Zane was busy taking care of the half demon while the incubus pestered him, Kai relaxed in his room with his dog, Nya and Jay continued their research on the odd creatures, and Lloyd and I trained a majority of the day.

It was the night where everything went weird.

The night started out normal, though we began to hear tapping and scratching noises. Nya was the first to be woken by it, followed by Jay and Kai. Zane, Lloyd and I were all last, though from the looks of things we hadn't woken up too long after the others.

"Ok, who's the one that's been making those noises?" Jay huffed. The little blue wolf he had yawned and shook itself, letting out a few stray sparks of electricity. Zane's odd grey weasel was resting on his shoulder while Nya's six tailed fox was no where in sight. Kai's dog obediently sat beside him while the little bird that had followed him home perched on his arm.

"That thing is still here?" Lloyd laughed. His little blue fox had fallen asleep in his arms. My armadillo was sleeping on my bed, having not been woken up by the noises. We quieted down as the scratching started up again.

"Hey, who the hell is making all that noise?" A very irritated looking incubus stormed over,

his wings fluttering in rage.

"We are not sure, Ricardo." Zane sighed softly. "We have been wondering that ourselves." Honestly, I didn't know how he or that demon could stand the guy. He didn't seem all that bad but he was a complete asshole at times. We quickly began to search for the source of the noise, and Jay eventually found it was coming from outside the monastery. We hurried out there and saw what looked to be a small yellow lizard with a black tipped tail digging around. It's hands and feet were clawed as well and it had long black dangly things on the side of it's head tipped with yellow. The top of it's head was black with a yellow triangle between it's eyes.

"Helio?" It turned to look at us, tilting it's head. Jay's wolf barked excitedly and bounded over. The lizard held up one of it's front feet which the dog pressed one of it's own paw against. We weren't sure what they were doing but apparently they were communicating somehow because the lizard suddenly flopped over in what had to be laughter.

"Someone explain what just happened?" Jay scratched the back of his head, an amused and confused look on his face.

"They were communicating by electrical currents." I turned to glance back at the half demon who was leaning against the door. "Electric types use electricity to relay information that they would rather not have anyone hear. I suppose your electrike told it a joke."

"So you know what these things are and yet you never bothered to say anything?" Kai glared at her.

"They never gave me the chance to leave my room." She flicked her tail at Zane and Ricardo who looked horrified and enraged.

"You should be in bed!" They exclaimed in unison. They were silenced by a fierce glare from the demon who shakily walked over to us. I could tell she had healed up pretty well, though the time she was forced to stay in bed must have made her a bit weak.

"I'm fine. Just need to stretch my legs." She hissed. "And yes, I know what they are. Ricardo and I actually come from the same place where they originated. Come on back inside and I'll explain everything to you.

**Jay's P.O.V.**

After everything that has happened to us I'm pretty sure we thought we knew everything, but nope. Most of Ninjago's past that we thought we knew was wrong and supposedly these giant beasts called 'pokemon' created our world and in turn we helped create a few others. And apparently this demon was queen of the demons and she sent these eggs to us for some war that _may_ happen with evil dark pokemon that sounded a lot like Nya when she was possessed by the Overlord's evil.

"We were mostly worried about the snakes." The demon, Ra...Ri...screw it I'll just call her Crystal like everyone else, continued her tale. "After all, they were the main reason the legendaries broke off from Ninjago, though since they're all living in peace I doubt they'll be too much of a problem."

"So what exactly happened to you anyway?" Kai questioned. Crystal sighed, tail twitching irritably.

"I was heading through the tunnels when something attacked me." She replied. "I didn't get a good look at it so I'm not sure what it was. I was close to Ninjago so I limped out of there as fast as I could until I found a place to rest. Zane found me shortly after."

"I thought you might have tripped or something with the way you were being so secretive about it." Ricardo stated flatly. "Guess I was wrong."

"Keep running your mouth, Ricardo, and your right hand's not going to be the only thing rendered useless." Crystal warned. Ricardo frowned.

"C'mon, Rael, don't be like that." He walked over, scratching her behind one of her cat ears. I couldn't tell whether she wanted to kick or kill him. She swatted his hand away, though Ricardo merely grinned and sat beside her, wrapping a wing around her. I honestly thought they were a couple, though it was pretty hard to tell whether or not it was one sided or just simple flirting.

"So if you're so smart, where are the golden mountains we keep hearing about?" Cole asked. He looked like he was teasing her, though Crystal scowled.

"I'm not sure." She answered. "They could be anywhere, perhaps in one of our continents or a forgotten one that he had found. And even if I did know, I couldn't tell you. It's too dangerous. Even if you wouldn't do anything other than look for it, I can't risk someone with bad intentions forcing it out of you somehow." I couldn't help but think about that for a minute. She definitely held a valid point there.

"By the way, Cole, I was wandering around near a village the other day and I ran into someone. She said she wanted to see you." Ricardo glanced over at our fearless leader, who looked anxious and surprised. Weird, that wasn't like him.

"What did she look like?" He asked quickly. Kai and I shared confused looks. This definitely wasn't like Cole.

"Scrawny, light brown hair that turned gold at the tips, bright blue-green-" Ricardo cut off as Cole rushed off. "What's with him?"

"Don't know." Kai answered, watching Cole run off to his room. "He's not usually like this…"

"I think he's off to see an old friend." Nya answered. "He's told me about her before. Apparently she's a bit sickly and lives with her uncle in a large mansion close to a small village. He stayed with them shortly before becoming a ninja."

"Did he ever mention wings?" Ricardo asked. Nya stared at the incubus in confusion.

"No. He said she was a normal human being." She answered.

"Odd, she had wings when I met her." He shrugged and helped Crystal back to her room, Zane swiftly following them. Poor guy. I could tell he liked her, but he really didn't stand much of a chance against Ricardo. He and Crystal went way back and it was obvious she liked him at least a little. I could only hope Zane found someone else and fast. After the recent death of his dad I really don't think he could take another heartbreak.

Cole rushed past, an excited look on his face. I knew he was going to be gone for a while from the suitcase he was holding. I was pretty curious, though Zane called after him before I could say anything.

"Cole, I do not think you should go alone." He said, quickly catching up to the earth ninja. "If you really insist on for her not to cook, I suggest you take Kai with you. I have to make sure Crystal stays safe and make sure her wound has healed correctly, and Kai is a decent cook." I was glad he didn't suggest me. I wanted to help Nya with a little project we were working on, and that would be difficult if I was away from home. I was also glad Zane stopped Cole. He seriously needed cooking lessons. Bad. But the guy denied that he was a bad cook and he would never take any so we either got food poisoning or went to bed hungry on his nights to cook. Cole sighed and walked off to get Kai.

**Kai's P.O.V.**

I sort of thanked and cursed at Zane when I figured out he was the one who convinced Cole to drag me along. I thanked him because once I met the girl, I was really glad Cole didn't cook for her, and cursed him because I didn't exactly want to leave with an incubus so close to my sister. I went with him anyway, and the bird who I started to call Comet and Blaze wouldn't let me go on without them came with us along with Tremor, Cole's little gold armadillo.

"So where are we going?" I questioned. Cole was walking at a pretty fast pace, and I found it difficult to keep up with him while keeping an eye on Comet. Blaze was probably the most obedient dog I'd ever seen, or Growlithe as Crystal called him.

"You'll see." He answered, slowing down as we neared a large mansion. He anxiously knocked on the door, waiting. As the door opened, I couldn't help but understand why he wanted to see this person.

She was small, no taller than five and a half feet, maybe even smaller. She was clad in a white dress with a gold band around the waist and sandals, her light brown hair tied and braided. I noticed it turned gold at the tips which was really odd, but what really caught my eye were the two golden wings on her back with feathers seemingly made of light.

Cole immediately wrapped his arms around her, pulling the surprised girl into a hug. Once she recovered from her shock she began to squirm, her face red.

"C-Cole, what are you doing here?" She asked, frantically trying to get out of his grip. I knew Cole wasn't hurting her. As strong as he was, he knew how to control himself. She easily escaped his grip, her face bright red.

"I wanted to pay you a visit now that things have calmed down." Cole answered in a surprisingly soft voice. As a leader, he had gotten used to using a stern and somewhat loud voice with us, and it surprised me to hear him speak so gently.

"You don't need to do that." The girl shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact. Cole gently took her hand, a worried look on his face.

"Yes I do." Cole insisted. "I've been worried about you. Also, where did those wings come from?" Despite his gentle voice, the girl cringed and tore her hand from his grasp.

"I'll explain later." She mumbled, glancing over at me. She didn't look upset, just scared. Poor girl hadn't seen Cole in about at two years and when he returns he could easily snap her arm in half. I honestly didn't blame her. Cole could be pretty terrifying when he was angry, and being six feet tall didn't help with that.

"Alright." Cole sighed. "How have you been?" The girl glanced back over at him

"I've been alright." She answered. "My uncle died recently so I've been trying to handle living on my own. Let's head inside, you two have probably been walking all day." Cole tried to protest, though she wouldn't listen.

It looked like any other mansion you would be in, but it seemed emptier. There weren't any fancy statues or chandeliers, though it was pretty clean and huge. We sat down on the couch while she went to get us some water.

"So how long did you stay with her?" I asked after a minute of silence.

"Almost a year." Cole answered. "I've been worried about her for a while, practically ever since we defeated the Overlord. I kept having dreams about her dying or getting badly hurt and it's been torture."

"That explains why you've been so tired lately." I mumbled. He nodded quietly. I didn't blame him. I would hate to have those sort of dreams about Nya, or any of the others. The girl returned and handed us our glasses which we thanked her for. We were kind of thirsty after walking all the way to the mansion.

"You haven't changed too much, I see." The girl smiled. "So who's your friend?"

"Kai, this is Fern, Fern this is Kai." Cole introduced us quickly. I shook Fern's hand gently. I could tell she was probably pretty shy, so I decided to stay quiet. Blaze climbed into my lap and fell asleep while Comet fluttered around, chirping. Fern didn't seem to mind at all, and she glanced over as a small brown fox-like creature bounded over and leaped into her arms.

"You've got one too?" Cole asked in surprise. Fern nodded, petting the little fox.

"His egg appeared on my doorstep shortly after my uncle's death" She replied in a quiet voice. "He's probably been the one keeping me sane through this."

"Fern, if it helps you can stay with us." Cole reached out and placed his hand over hers, making the tiny girl blush furiously. "I've already asked Sensei Wu if it was alright and he said it was fine as long as you don't cause any problems. But first I want an explanation for those wings." I could tell the leader was was distressed from this sudden change in her appearance. Fern looked down and slowly pulled her hand away.

"While you were gone, I ended up getting seriously ill." Fern explained. "My uncle did everything to help, eventually calling my father." She spat the word father like a curse, which startled me. She seemed so kind and I couldn't imagine her hating anyone, especially a family member. I didn't know what her father did to cause this dislike, though I was positive it was something I would punch him in the gut for if I ever got the chance.

"You _did_ get better, right?" Cole asked, his voice shaking. Fern shook her head.

"N-no. Cole, I didn't get better, I only got worse." She was shivering. I knew where this was going, and Cole only seemed to be denying it. "I've been officially dead for a year now."

**Told you that you were gonna hate me. Anyway, this will all be explained in the next chapter, don't worry. **

**Again I am accepting OCs but only through PM! Also feel free to ask me or my OCs questions in the review or in a PM! I'll answer them in the next chapter or by another PM if you don't want it in the Author Notes.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Kai's P.O.V.**

"Does this mean you're a Vyrentia like your dad now?" I stared at Cole in surprise. I would be freaking out if a friend had told me they were dead for a year, but Cole was completely calm about the situation. I wasn't sure what a Vyrentia was, but I was guessing it had something to do with her wings.

"Yes." Fern answered softly. "My father brought me back to life as one of his kind and then left."

"Sorry to sound like an idiot here, but what's a Vyrentia?" I asked. They both glanced over at me. Fern let out a soft laugh.

"It's alright. Vyrentia are very rare and we usually avoid human contact." She explained. "We're people who have died and were brought back to life by another Vyrentia. It's usually heroes or people who died too young who are brought back. We have a weakness that's connected to how we died."

"What sort of weakness?" Cole asked quickly.

"It depends on how we died. I cough if I get stressed out, but it's not as bad as some of the others. My dad has terrible claustrophobia from the car crash he died in." Fern told him. The little fluffball that belonged to her was wandering around while Tremor and Comet followed him.

"So, when are we going to head on home?" I asked, changing the subject. It was already obvious that she didn't have a good relationship with her dad and I didn't want her to get upset, especially after she mentioned that weakness of hers.

"I really don't think I can leave the mansion." Fern answered, looking away from us. "I would love to stay with you, but I promised my uncle that I would look after the mansion."

"Is there any other relatives that could stay here?" Cole asked. Fern shook her head.

"Maybe we could stay here? Sensei Wu really does deserve all the rest he can get, and with all these pokemon following us home it's only getting more noisy." I suggested. "I'm sure this place is big enough for us all, and you could use the company. Even with your little puffball, it has to get lonely. Plus we could help you look after the place." My stomach decided it was a good time to remind me that I was hungry.

"I'll go make us something to eat." Cole was immediately on his feet.

"_No!_" Fern and I both exclaimed. We glanced at each other and I could see the alarm in her eyes. She must have eaten his cooking once.

"Y-you're my guests, you shouldn't have to work." She quickly explained. Cole sighed and sat back down as she hurried off.

"She said she liked my cooking…" Cole mumbled.

"She was lying." I replied as my stomach growled again.

**Zane's P.O.V.**

I was checking Raelgil's wound shortly after Cole and Kai left. It had healed up quite well, though it still needed a bit more time before it was fully healed.

"It could possibly scar over, though I'm not sure just yet." I told her. Her tail tip twitched a little, though she said nothing. Ricardo was nearby, keeping a close eye on me. Iceli sat in a corner, staring at Ricardo. It was a little more than obvious that none of the pokemon got along with the incubus, though I couldn't understand why. As rude as he was at times, the pokemon just seemed to naturally dislike him. Raelgil had once told me of two pokemon who were natural enemies, and I couldn't help but wonder if that's what was going on with the pokemon and Ricardo. Perhaps pokemon naturally disliked incubi?

"Raelgil?" I asked. "Do you know why Blaze attacked Comet when Comet decided to attack Kai?"

"Pokemon have a natural instinct to protect their trainers." Raelgil answered. "Growlithe are fiercely loyal and the fact that they have imprinted on you make them even more protective. They look up to you right now and may expect you to protect them more than they protect you, though once they get stronger they'll try to keep you out of the fights."

"Hey, Zane, Cole just called and said he wanted to talk to us about something." Jay poked his head into the room, phone in hand. I blinked in confusion, wondering what he wanted.

"It sounds like a good idea, but what if the Shadow Pokemon attack the monastery?" Lloyd asked.

"They kept away from shrines and monasteries in the past. Heartless or not they did not want to invoke the wrath of the Legendaries. Even the Shadow Pokemon are not powerful enough to take on the Legendaries." Ricardo answered. "The monastery is safe, even if it isn't in Ninjago with the pokemon returning the Legendaries will begin to watch over it once more."

"Why didn't the Legendary Pokemon stop the Shadow Pokemon?" Kai challenged on the other end of the phone. It was one speaker on both ends.

"As much as they wanted to, the Legendaries are forbidden to delve into mortal affairs. The Shadow Pokemon were defeated before it got too bad." Raelgil answered. "Had the Legendaries intervened their power could possibly cause more damage than if they had stayed out. You are forgetting they are powerful gods that could destroy the entire world if they so wished. They do not have the time to get involved in every war unless it poses a serious threat. There's rumors that Celebi traveled through time to see who would win without their help and satisfied that it was the normal pokemon, they left it alone."

"Does Celebi do that for every war?" Jay asked. Raelgil nodded.

"We're not sure if it's every war, but we are sure that she must do it for the more dangerous wars that could turn disastrous." She answered. "Back to the original subject, you'll have to ask your sensei about this, but I am all for it."

"You're just in it because you'll finally get to live in a castle-like home again." Ricardo joked. Raelgil's lips twitched a little as she held back a smile.

"Don't lie to me Ricardo, you're thinking the same thing." She purred.

**Jay's P.O.V.**

"I see no reason not to go." Sensei Wu told us. "It is a little noisy with those pokemon running around, and Misako and Garmadon can live here once you move out as well. We will be safe, and you can be as loud as you wish." Hint taken, we were really pushing it by inviting Cole's friend here, but at least now we could rest easily knowing that we could help a friend of Cole's and help Sensei Wu with his retirement. Though one problem remained.

"Won't you get lonely out here?" I asked. "Even with Garmadon and Misako it could get really lonely here."

"I can help with that." Raelgil answered. "I could ask some friends from Soti to help out. They're retired guards from the castle and they wouldn't mind coming here. They've always wanted to visit Ninjago but never found a good reason to. They're stubborn and won't leave their homes unless it's important. They have volunteers who could find a home in the nearby village and visit often."

"That would be nice." Sensei smiled. "Thank you. Make sure to visit some time. And make sure to treat that young woman nicely."

"We will." We all answered.

"If we have any problems we'll stop by to talk to you." Zane added. I could tell he didn't want to leave, but at the same time he didn't want us to leave him behind. He and Sensei were close as Sensei was like a dad to him, and I was hoping that knowing other people would be here to keep the old guy company would help him feel a bit better, especially since they were former guards.

We packed our bags and headed off the next day to our new home. I was a little more than excited to see this friend of Cole's. Ricardo had insisted on carrying Rael, though because he was so tiny he was forced to just help her walk. I'd laugh at the guy if he didn't scare me. Once we got to the mansion we were instantly greeted by Blaze who ran around our legs and chased the other pokemon around. Fern led us to our rooms so we could unpack and boy were those beds comfy!

"Elec!" Zapper jumped around the room, barking in joy as he chased Fern's little puffball.

"Sylph?" Fern looked into the room and rushed over, picking the little puffball up. "Sorry about him, he hasn't seen many other pokemon before."

"It's fine." I told her. "Zapper's got more energy than I do and it's nice to let him take it out on someone else for a change." Fern laughed as Sylph squirmed out of her arms and chased Zapper around.

"Alright, be sure to tell me if you need anything." She left the room with Sylph bounding after. I glanced down at Zapper who was wandering around, sniffing the room. Helios, the weird lizard, had made a small burrow outside the monastery and had followed us here. I asked Fern if she wanted me to find a different home for him when I noticed, but she told me it was fine as long as he didn't dig into the house. He was pretty friendly, though a bit skittish around us.

"Fletch!" Comet soared past the window and I glanced over in confusion. Usually he was pecking at Blaze's head as if demanding a rematch or sleeping on Kai's arm. I shrugged. He probably was just exploring the place and memorizing the layout of the mansion so he wouldn't get lost or something. This place was easy to navigate for us but the tiny pokemon might have more problems knowing where they are.

Sylph bounded into the room and started chasing Zapper again. Fern didn't come chasing after him so I guess she either took my word for it being alright or didn't know he was in the room. Either way I was glad she was so nice. I could see why Cole liked her so much.

**Cole's P.O.V.**

"Fern, have you seen Tremor anywhere?" I asked. I wasn't all that worried for him. The house was big and even though we had been here a while, I was sure he didn't know every hall and room just yet. He didn't really leave my side until the others moved in.

"I saw him go outside. I think he might be talking to Helios." She answered. She was in her bed, reading a book. I insisted that she take it easy and relax as Zane offered to be the cook and the rest of us would make sure that the place stayed clean.

"Helios?" I asked, a little confused.

"The little Helioptile outside. Jay named him that." She answered. That explained it. I thanked her and headed off to check. I wandered around until my foot got caught in a hole that didn't belong to Helios. Helios burrowed into some roots of a nearby oak. This Hole was near the house entrance. Luckily it was out of the way so no one would fall in while they were walking to the house. I got my foot out and looked down at it just as Tremor poked his head out, shaking a bit of dirt off his head.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. Tremor only let out a small squeak and went back to his digging. I sighed and shook my head, beginning to leave when something caught my eye. A little silver creature glittered in the distance. Interested, I walked over to it. It was small with bright blue eyes and looked like it was wearing armor. I picked it up and it squealed. Blood dripped from a small wound on it's stomach and Tremor bounded over, waving it's arms as it tried to grab the creature.

"Were you trying to help it?" I asked. Tremor nodded. I smiled and patted his head, carrying it inside. I wasn't sure what it was or why it was injured, but I wasn't about to let it die out there. I carried it inside and asked Zane to help me out a little.

"Where did it come from?" He asked, confused.

"Probably in the tunnels." Crystal answered. "Arons like to eat minerals and ores, mostly iron or steel. It helps them keep their armor hard apparently. It probably came through the tunnels to find a source of some sort and cut it's soft stomach on a sharp rock or something. But something isn't right."

"What?" I asked.

"It looks really young, perhaps no older than your own pokemon. Mother pokemon always care for their young and mother Aggrons are one of the worst next to Tyranitars when their children go missing. They'd go to the ends of the planet to find their child, yet no reports of a raging mother have been sent." She frowned. "I guess it could be an orphan like your pokemon, though there should be a body."

"What's with that weird black aura around it?" Lloyd asked. Crystal stared at him in shock.

"Black aura?" She echoed. Lloyd nodded. "That's the mark of a shadow pokemon! The mother must have abandoned it because of it. Only pokemon and a very few select creatures can see a Shadow Pokemon's dark aura. I suppose you are one of them."

"But is it supposed to be really faint?" Lloyd glanced back down at the little Aron.

"No, it's supposed to be very vivid." She mumbled. "A shadow pokemon could have attacked it, maybe even killed it's mother."

"We'll have to take care of it then." I sighed.

"I vote Cole!" Jay exclaimed. I glared at him, though I didn't protest.

Later on I was busy watching the little Aron when Fern decided to pay me a little visit.

"How is it?" She asked sitting down on the bed next to me.

"It's doing a bit better." I answered softly. "It woke up for a while about an hour ago. Is something wrong? You're usually not up this late unless there's something on your mind."

"Raelgil said a friend of hers was coming over, but I'm not sure about this." Fern sighed. "Apparently Ricardo doesn't get along with her for some reason."

"I'm sure it will be alright." I rubbed her back gently, avoiding her wings. She had explained to be earlier they were sensitive, and I didn't want to risk harming her. Sylph bounded in and jumped into her lap, almost immediately falling asleep.

"Now I'll be here until she wakes up." She laughed softly. "She gets cranky if I wake her up."

"I don't mind." I told her. "I need to stay up to make sure that the little aron doesn't reopen his wound. You can stay as long as you want."

"Thanks." She mumbled.


	5. Chapter 4

**Been a while since I've updated. I've been getting ready for the school year which starts in a few weeks. I'll update even slower because of it most likely. **

**In this chapter we get to meet a few new friends.**

**Kai's P.O.V.**

The last thing I expected to find when I woke up was some weird person talking to Crystal in the living room. Whoever it was must have been a friend of hers or something. The person was wearing a light blue tank-top and long pants of the same color, a dark grey-blue jacket tied around her waist with golden pockets. She wore knee high boots that had to be tied. Two small dark grey-blue ears twitched every so often and a beaver like tail of the same color was curled slightly at the tip. She glanced over at me in silence for a moment before turning back to the half demon.

"I guess you weren't joking about the humans after all." She said. Crystal nodded and looked over at me.

"Good morning, Kai." She greeted. "Where are Blaze and Comet?"

"Hi, and don't know." I answered. "Who's your friend?" The girl stared at me in silence.

"My name is Ryna." She answered."I suppose you're the fire ninja?" I nodded, about to say something when Blaze flew down and tackled her.

"Blaze! Down boy!" I snapped. Blaze whined and walked over to me, growling. I rushed over and helped the girl back up. "Sorry about him, he doesn't usually do that."

"It's fine." She answered, brushing herself off.

"He did that because she's a gijinka." Crystal answered. "They're pokemon who can naturally turn into a human like version of their pokemon. It's a rare ability that they're usually born with. If a pokemon wants to learn it it will take many years of practice, almost an entire lifetime."

"Since you're not an old woman I'm guessing you were born with it?" I asked. Ryna nodded, looking back down at the little growlithe. She glowed for a moment and transformed into a small otter-like creature with shells on it's hips. It reminded me of a beaver.

Comet flew down chirping loudly. He stopped and stared at her for a moment before landing and hopping over to her. He hopped around her, chirping and shaking his tail feather.

"What the hell is with him?" I asked, watching in amusement.

"That's their mating dance." Crystal answered.

"What?"

"Comet is trying to impress her."

"My bird is hitting on an otter." I stared down at Comet in surprise. As far as I knew, Otters were carnivores and he was pretty brave to flirt with one. Apparently Ryna was having none of it as she turned and slammed her tail down on his head. Comet chirped and stumbled about until he fell over. If it was possible I'm sure there would be stars floating around his head.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in birds." Ryna others walked down as she transformed back into her human-like form. She introduced herself and in no time at all Comet was back to dancing.

"What is he doing?" Jay asked, watching the little love sick bird. Seeing as the dancing wasn't working, he flew around doing all sorts of tricks. The other pokemon watched him occasionally whispering to each other. Even Helios got over his shyness to watch.

"Flirting." I answered. The others started to snicker and eventually Ryna went back into her pokemon form. Comet fluttered down, staring at her with an excited and love sick look on his face. Ryna flicked her tail and he hopped a bit closer. She turned and tried to slam him with her tail, though he fluttered out of the way.

"Bloody git wants to do this the hard way." She grumbled. Comet flew down and she took one of her shells off her hip, a blade shaped blue energy forming on it that reminded me of water. Comet fluttered down and she slashed him with it, sending the poor little bird flying into the wall.

"That was cruel." Zane said.

"It's the only way for him to get the clue and he's more persistent than the other pokemon I've met." She muttered. "Usually they get the hint when I slap them in the face."

"He's probably never going to give up." Cole sighed.

"How about we go for a walk by the village." Raelgil suggested. "It would do us all good for the fresh air. The pokemon can stay here."

"I'm going with you. No way in the Reverse World am I going to stay here with that bird." Ryna growled.

"Comet, are you alright?" Blaze poked his friend. Helios walked over and helped the little guy up.

"I-I really don't th-think it's a good i-idea for you to be flirting w-with that dewott." He shook himself off and glared at them.

"I'm fine and no way am I giving up!" He squaked. "She's a one in a million chance for him!"

"What are you talking about?" Tremor asked in confusion.

"I'm talking about that stupid fire ninja!" Comet answered. "If I can get her to like me she might like him too!"

"Are you really trying to set them up together?" Zapper laughed. "They'll never get together! She's a water type!"

"Ever heard of 'opposites attract'?" Comet retorted. "I'm sure they'll be a great pair. Look at how protective he is over his sister! I'm sure he'll be a fine mate for her!"

"Why are you so stubborn about this?" The little aron asked in confusion.

"Because this might be my chance to show my dad I can do something!" Comet's wings flapped furiously.

"Here we go again." Blaze huffed, rolling his eyes.

"My dad's a soldier and I wanna show him I can be one too!" Comet paced around. "He said that being a soldier means looking after your team and putting their lives before yours and that's what I'm doing! He _has_ to train me if I can get Kai a mate!"

"I-I think he m-means you need t-to look after your team i-in battle." Helios clarified. Comet either didn't hear or was ignoring him.

"Comet, I really think you just need to relax. You're too young anyway." Hinata told him. "Wait until you evolve until you decide to try out for being a soldier."

"Maybe we should go for a walk around outside in the backyard." Aurora suggested. "I'm sure it will help a lot."

The little pokemon wandered around the large backyard in silence for a bit.

"D-did you guys h-hear that?" Helios asked, looking around fearfully.

"Hear what?" Blaze asked, glancing back. Iceli growled softly. For some reason the sneasel never spoke a word.

"Th-that snap." Helios answered. "S-something's out there!" He looked around, shaking.

"Togepi!" A little egg bounded over, sobbing. It latched onto Hinata and continue to cry.

"That's a Togepi!" Comet exclaimed. "But what's it doing out here?"

"I think it's lost. We should take it back inside." Comet answered.

"Hi guys where ya been I've been lookin for you everywhere Zapper wanna play is that a Togepi?" Sylph ran around.

"Hello Sylph, and yeah this is a Togepi." Tremor answered. "His name is...well we don't know he can't talk yet. He must've just hatched. I think he imprinted on Hinata."

"Nya's a grandmother already!" Sylph jumped up and down.

"Yes, and Togepi needs rest." Hinata stated as she walked away, Togepi on her back.

"I hope Nya won't mind." Aron sighed. "Whoever she is."

"Nya is Kai's little sister." Blaze told the aron. "She's really nice, so don't worry too much. Just as they all got comfortably and began to relax, the sound of crying sent them running to Nya's room.

"What's wrong?" Tremor asked quickly, climbing onto the bed. Hinata was desperately trying to calm the little togepi, though it wasn't working too well.

"I don't know!" She exclaimed. "He woke up and started crying!" Tremor picked the little pokemon up and set him down on the floor and curled up into a ball. The Togepi stopped crying and tapped him, making him roll for a second. The other pokemon watched in silence as the Togepi began rolling the ground type around in glee.  
"Th-this isn't going to e-end well." Helios mumbled.

**No One's P.O.V.**

"I'm telling you, there's no possible way a dragon could be weak to a tiny flower!" Cole and Ricardo had been arguing over the dragon and fairy type for a while and even Fern looked tired of their fighting. She glanced over at the others who were busy talking to each other in an attempt to ignore the two. They were heading back home, though the little fight had made them stop for a while, and Fern was beginning to lose her patience. She was anxious to return home before something happened to the pokemon.

"Cole, it's true, you'll have to get over it." She finally spoke. Cole quieted down a little as he turned his attention to the Vyrentia.

"I still refuse to accept it." He muttered crossly. Fern shot him an irritated glare.

"Baro*!" She snapped. Raelgil nearly choked on her water from laughing. Ryna's hand flew to her mouth in an attempt to stifle her giggles. Cole gave Fern a confused look as the girl looked away from him, her cheeks red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"What was that?" He asked, still very much confused. He was positive it was an insult of some sort, but what it meant he still didn't know.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Fern answered swiftly. "We should get home soon. The sun's going down and there's no telling what the pokemon have gotten into." She hurried off.

"What did she say?" Cole asked, looking to Ryna and Raelgil. Ryna shook her head and held up her hands, a clear sign she wasn't going to answer his question.

"It's best you find out on your own." Raelgil replied, a spark of amusement in her eyes as she followed Fern. Zane chuckled softly though he didn't bother to help his friend out. This was one thing he wouldn't help Cole with.

"Did she always talk in a different language?" Kai asked as he walked beside his leader.

"Not really. This is the first time I've heard her myself though her uncle said she did it every once in a great while." Cole answered. "He never told me what language it was."

The moment they got home they were greeted by the sight of all the pokemon but Hinata passed out on the floor, the togepi hopping happily around.

"Ok, what happened?" Ryna asked to the only pokemon left awake. Hinata sighed and explained how she had found the Togepi in the backyard and decided to care for it since it's parents weren't around. Ryna listened before repeating the story to the others.

"As long as it doesn't keep us up at night I'm fine with it staying here." Nya smiled at her little vulpix. As soon as Talon awoke he was dancing around Ryna again.

"I swear to Arceus if you don't start you'll lost that pretty little tail feather along with your wings." Ryna growled to the bird. He finally stopped and flew to Kai, chirping loudly at her. "And no I will not go out with your trainer, I barely know him." Kai blinked in surprise.

"You were trying to hook me up with her?" He glanced over at Talon. Talon chirped and fluttered away.

"I think we should get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow." Fern suggested. "Besides, we've walked quite a bit." She rushed to her room.

"Fern, get back here!" Cole chased after her. "Tell me what you said earlier!" Raelgil's ears twitched and she could have sworn she heard Fern laugh as she locked her door.

**I swear someone needs to take this Latin and English dictionary away from me. **

**Fun fact about Vyrentia; they speak in Latin and or Greek at times without meaning to or noticing it. Expect more Latin insults from Fern in the future~**

***Boro means Blockhead in Latin**

**I was going to go with another word but I couldn't resist the teeny Lego reference. Poor Cole is going to have to get used to this before it drives him insane.**

**Also, sorry it's a bit short. I've been sick lately and I can't think too well.**


	6. Skip this

**Hi everyone just a small update. I haven't gotten many chances to write since school's started up. **

**Another thing is that my sister is in the hospital. I don't have much of a muse right now because of this and I honestly don't even want to RP or draw anymore. So for right now this is on pause. I might do a few sentences every few days but until I feel better and when I have more time I probably won't be doing much.**

**Thank you all for your support and this story ****_will_**** be continued with a sequel which deals with another one of my fandoms.**


	7. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! I'm sorry for not updating at all since that last one. My sister is finally home after 15 days in the hospital due to something even the doctors couldn't find. The only explanation was a bug bite caused some sort of bad reaction with her diabetes. She did have swelling in her brain and she has suffered some memory loss so we've been helping her with that. **

**I've also noticed that you guys have been suggesting legendaries. I love the support but the ninja will not be getting legendary pokemon. **

**Here's why; It's already been stated in a couple chapters that the legendaries are gods in this universe. Catching them is not only a VERY bad idea but it could also disrupt the balance of nature as well. You capture the god of storms? Well look at that a lot of storms for you and hardly any for the other half of the world!**

**I know in the games nothing happens but I'm going off logic here. Minor gods like Shaymin and Latias and Latios can be captured though they will be iffy and often refuse to follow your orders, even after you have gained their trust.**

**Also I've already got the full teams for the ninja planned out, so you'll just have to wait and see who gets what!**

**Anyway a small bit of what will happen in this chapter; we get to see how the others interact with their new friends. This is sort of a filler chapter but it's also a good chance to get to know Fern and Ryna better.**

**Jay's P.O.V.**

So there we were trapped in a collapsed cave waiting for something to come save us.

…

I should probably start from the beginning.

Ok, so it was a nice beautiful day and it was supposed to stay like that for the weekend. Cole came up with the idea of a camping trip. Because it was so nice out, we all decided, 'sure, why not? It would be nice to get to know our new friends better!'. Only that a cold front came in carrying a storm with it and we got rained into a cave. The entrance was covered in mud due to a landslide and here we were all trapped in this thing no air-

Ok, maybe I've over exaggerating but it was bad. As a guy with a lot of energy I'm not too happy with the idea of being trapped. Anyway, Fern and Kai were hanging out towards the back-pretty weird if you ask me. Fireball and the angel?-Nya was sitting close to me, Zane and Ryna were making small talk close to the entrance near Cole and Ricardo and Crystal were sitting somewhere close to the middleish of the cave.

I'm really thinking Cole was a bit P. over Kai and Fern being all buddy buddy because he would glance over every now and then as if to check to see if Kai was trying to make a move on her or something. As for me? I was just kinda jumpy and I _might_ have panicked a little bit.

Kai and Ryna were still a bit awkward around each other. Apparently some accident where Kai walked in on her when she was getting dressed or something. I find that weird though. If I could turn into a pokemon I'd _never_ go back to being human! I don't know why she insists on staying in her human form so often. Kai's face was still pretty red from when she slapped him with her tail. Apparently it's nothing but bone and skin? Yikes. Must've hurt a lot.

The cave itself was kind of big? It was hard to tell with how dark it was and the only bit of light was from Fern's wings(how do those work even? Can you even fly with light?) and a few holes in the dirt barrier. Cole _could_ have moved the dirt but he was worried it would set off another landslide since it was still raining pretty hard outside.

"How long are we going to be stuck in here?" I asked after what seemed like forever. Nya gave me a 'be patient' look. She gives me that look a lot, but hey, I never listen.

"Probably until the rain stops." Kai answered. Fern had snuggled up to him, probably because she was sort of freezing and the fact Kai was like a walking heater. Cole still didn't look happy. Last thing we needed was for those two to start fighting. I really didn't think Kai liked Fern that way. Yeah, she was cute but she didn't seem to be his type. She seemed to be more like a little sister to him than a romantic interest. But with Nya being the only girl on our team, it was hard to tell what anyone's type was.

"Hey, at least we're out of the rain." Nya pointed out, casting a worried glance towards her brother. I guess she caught onto the whole 'Cole does not approve' thing. No offense to Kai, but he would be crushed by an angry Cole.

"That I can be thankful for." Crystal muttered. Didn't surprise me. Cats hated water and with her being half cat demon it was no surprise she didn't like the rain. Even though she never got wet due to Ricardo covering her with his big ass wings. Seriously those giant things did _not_ belong on that tiny body.

"I'm pretty glad myself." Ryna agreed. "I may love water but having it pound on you drop by drop is far from comfortable. I'd rather be stuck in a desert than be in the rain." She paused for a moment. "Ok, that was a bit of a stretch." I still couldn't figure out what accent that was. Did all gijinkas have that accent or just her kind? Or was it just her?

"Someone in there?" A voice made us jump and turn to the entrance of the cave. I could make out someone, hopefully not human because how would we explain an angel, an otter thing, and two demons?

Crystal's ears perked up as she turned her attention to the wall of dirt that caged us.

"Akuma?" She called. Ok, definitely not a human which was good and bad. If this was one of her demon followers and if the stories about demons hating humans were true maybe it was better if that person stayed out.

"Yeah, it's me." The person-thing replied. "Are you alright? I sort of followed your scent here." The more I focused the more furry this thing became. Werewolf maybe? Had to be dog related.

"We're fine." Ryna answered. "Just a little trapped. It would be nice if you could get us out."

"Not sure I can." I heard him walking around outside as if he were looking for a way to get in. "Maybe I can try and dig you out? No, I'd get buried…" He continued to talk to himself, sometimes too quiet to hear.

"Just go get Verthicha!" Crystal called. "She should be able to get us out. She's a ground type after all."

"Alright but if she rages don't blame me." The guy bolted off after his joke(hopefully).

"Who in the hell is Verthicha?" Cole asked, a confused look on his face.

"A tyranitar." Crystal answered. "In other words; a ground type. She won't be bothered if she gets buried under a bunch of dirt and she'll be able to get us out. We'll have to wait until the rain stops though. Ground types aren't fans of the rain."

"Question." We all looked over at Zane. "About the rage thing, she won't harm us, will she?"

"Only if you piss her off, which is somewhat difficult to do." Ricardo shrugged. "She's terrifying when she's not angry though."

"Why is that?" I asked, casting a nervous glance to the wall of dirt.

"Six foot tall green Godzilla that can move rocks with her mind and can transform to a taller eight foot more spiky version of herself and gets her stats pretty much doubled." Ricardo answered. "She's not really cute and cuddly like a lot of pokemon."

"That is kind of terrifying." Cole mumbled.

**Kai's P.O.V.**

"What's wrong?" I whispered to Fern, noticing that she was shifting uncomfortably.

"It's nothing." Fern replied softly. "I just don't like being in here."

"No one does." I rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. I glanced up and noticed that Cole was watching us, an almost angered look in his eyes. It reminded me that he and Fern were old friends. I didn't blame him for being upset.

"Where is Lloyd?" Zane asked, looking around. We all grew silent.

"We forgot Lloyd!"

"Guys, I'm ready to go, let's hurry up before the sun sets!" Lloyd rushed down the stairs, holding a backpack. He paused and looked around when he noticed no one was there. "Guys?"

Hours had passed and the rain had finally stopped, but we were still stuck in the cave, waiting for Crystal's friend to stop by and help us. If she did. Cole had made no attempt to strangle me which was good, but Fern still hadn't left my side.

"Fern, why do you always hang around me?" I finally asked her, trying not to be too loud. I was glad we were at the back of the cave and away from the others. I really didn't need Cole or Jay to hear this. I'd get killed or I'd never hear the end of it.

"You're warm and I get cold easily." Fern answered, looking up at me confused. "Wait, did you actually think I…?"

"Not really." I shrugged. "I think Cole does though." I glanced over at the Earth ninja who was taking interest on the cave floor. Fern followed my gaze and frowned.

"It looks like I'm avoiding him, doesn't it?" She mumbled softly. I wanted to tell her no, but she was making it painfully obvious that she wanted to keep away from him.

"A little." I answered. Fern let out a sigh. I stayed quiet for a moment. When I didn't get an answer I decided to speak up again. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid." She answered.

"I don't see why. Cole doesn't hurt us on purpose unless we really piss him off." I explained. "I doubt he would ever hurt you, even if you pissed him off."

"That's not what I'm worried about." She grumbled. "When he left he was strong, yes, but he was still just an average guy. Now when I finally get to see him he's a muscled hot mess and I just-" She broke off with a squeak and hid her reddening face with her wings. I couldn't help but laugh a little. I knew Fern got easily flustered but this was kind of cute seeing her trying to hide herself like that.

"Don't worry about it." I told her. "Cole's been giving me the evil eye ever since you sat down next to me. I think he still likes you, even if you are a zombie." Fern folded her wings and gave me a friendly shove.

"I'm _not_ a zombie!" She protested. "There's a good difference between us Vyrentia and Zombies!"

"Like what?" I laughed. I saw Cole shift a little closer out of the corner of my eye.

"Well for one, I'm not going around trying to eat people's brains." Fern crossed her arms, an angry look on her face. Even angry she was kind of adorable. I don't know why but I wanted to protect her. I suppose it was because of Nya being with Jay and the fact that she didn't really need me anymore. It hurt, but I was still happy for her. Fern however, she needed someone there for her.

"Ok, ok, you win." I held up my hands in mock surrender. "But you shouldn't hide from him. He hasn't changed much." Fern still didn't look all that convinced. I decided to drop the conversation there. Cole hadn't moved much but he still looked pretty upset. I decided I would talk to him after we got out of the cave. I didn't want to risk losing a friendship over a simple misunderstanding.

"So how are things with Ryna since the accident?" Fern asked me, casting a worried glance to the earth ninja nearby.

"Awkward." I scowled. "I didn't see anything I shouldn't have...hopefully. I'm not sure though. I haven't tried talking to her since then."

"Why not?" Fern tilted her head in confusion.

"I don't want to get slapped again." I answered, rubbing my still aching cheek. "Her tail is freaking _hard_. It's like it doesn't have anything but skin and bone in it." It was Fern's turn to laugh now.

"I'm sure she'll understand. So what were you talking about anyway? You said something about seeing something she might not want you to see but it wasn't something you probably shouldn't." I sighed. I was hoping she wouldn't ask about that but there was no backing out of it now.

"I only saw her stomach, I swear. But it was covered in scars like it was cut open a lot. I'm not sure she would want me to know about them. I thought the only scar she had was the one on her face but apparently I was wrong." I answered, flicking a pebble across the cave floor.

"You're right about that." I jumped in surprise and looked up. Ryna was standing over me. Her expression was hard to read. She was either upset or annoyed. Fern quickly got to her feet and hurried over to sit beside Cole to either give us space or to stay out of the possible fight. Cole glanced over at her in surprise. He didn't say anything, just wrapped his arm around her and glanced over. He gave me a look of pity when he realized what was going on. Ryna sat next to me, her tail flicking as if it was itching to hit me again,

"Hey, I said I was sorry. If you had locked your door we could have avoided this whole mess." I told her quickly. She didn't reply for a while.

"You could have at least knocked." She muttered. "I'm not here to debate over what we could have done to avoid it. I want to know exactly what you saw."

"I just saw your stomach and your scars." I answered. "That's it. I'm not going to ask you about it since it's probably a really touchy subject."

"Good." She grumbled. "I'd rather not explain it." There was a long moment of silence between the two of us, the only sound was from our breathing and the quiet chatter of the others.

"It has something to do with why you don't like being in your pokemon form, doesn't it?" I asked. She nodded.

"It's easier to hide them while I'm human." She answered. "Well, mostly human." I honestly still found it hard to believe that she was a pokemon. She looked too human, the only differences being her hair color and her ears and tail. If she were to hide her ears and tail I would have just taken her for a normal human who decided to dye her hair a weird color.

"I don't see why you try to hide them. I'm impressed you have so many." I smiled at her.

"Why would you be impressed." She gave me a confused look.

"It shows that you didn't back away from a fight, even when you were injured." I answered. "That takes a lot of bravery. And the fact you lived through it is a bonus." Ryna let out a sarcastic laugh.

"My father always told me that the more scars one of our species has the more attractive they are to others." Her tail tip twitched. "Not sure if it's true or if it's just a fetish he has." I shrugged. I wish I could answer that question for her but I knew almost nothing about pokemon. I could barely remember any of the types.

"So what's your dad like?" I asked her. She flinched and I knew immediately knew I probably shouldn't have asked that.

"He's...different than most dads." She mumbled. "He never liked me. He always wanted a son and when I hatched...well he wasn't happy. He's been training me since I could walk." Suddenly it all made sense. I gently gripped her hand, keeping my mouth shut so I wouldn't make her angry or bring up any bad memories.

"Hurry up!" We all looked up after hearing Crystal's friend who was there earlier. "They're in here!" Those closest to the entrance got to their feet and scrambled to the back while Ryna and I stood up. The wall of dirt fell away and let me tell you this; Ricardo's description of this thing was spot on. She really did look like a green Godzilla. She turned to look down at a wolf/hyena thing. It's body was mostly made up of short white fur however it's legs had dark blue markings. Starting from above the eyes were two long manes of longer fur the same color as it's legs and tail.

"Everyone alright?" He asked, stepping into the cave. "Sorry if we scared you."

"We're fine." Crystal answered for us. "Thank you, Akuma, though I would like to know why you're out here."

"Looking for traces of Shadow Pokemon." Akuma replied as he walked back outside. We quickly followed him. No way were we going to stay in that cave and wait to be trapped again. "Luckily it seems there's none around. Either they all somehow got purified or have gone into hiding." The green Godzilla walked away, grumbling something under her breath.

"Let's hope they _stay_ in hiding." Ricardo grumbled as he stretched his wings, almost hitting Jay with them.

"We should head back home and apologize to Lloyd for leaving him behind." Zane suggested. We all agreed with him. Camping was fun and all, but we didn't want to risk being rained into a cave again.

"Hey, Crystal, why haven't you gone back home yet?" Nya asked. "Your leg should be healed up by now."

"I would rather stay here to make sure nothing bad happens." The half demon answered. She still walked with a slight limp, but she was definitely a lot better. Ricardo kept one of his freakishly large wings around her in case she stumbled or fell.

"Are you sure it's safe to stay?" I questioned. "You kind of are the queen." Crystal let out a long sigh.

"I want to go back but I must stay here to make things go smoothly between you and the pokemon." She explained. "I left a close friend of mine in charge until I return. And don't even bother suggesting coming with me. Demons still hate humans and they will not take kindly to any of you. Unless there's a way you can be demons or some other supernatural being yourselves you can't go."

"I think it would be fun to be a demon or something like that." Jay grinned. "But the transformation better not hurt!"

"I'd rather stay human." I grumbled. The half demon queen glanced over at me, a spark of mischievousness in her eyes. Not really a good sign.

"Well if I find a way to do it you could be a phoenix. Meaning wings and tail and complete control over fire." She said. "But if you don't want to…" As tempting as that offer was, I was still reluctant. I glanced back at Fern and Cole. The two were walking beside each other, though Fern still seemed pretty nervous despite our talk from earlier.

"Hey, why are you two so close anyway?" I asked. The queen and incubus glanced at each other for a moment.

"I'm her personal guard, I'm supposed to stay close to her." Ricardo explained himself.

"We've known each other for a long time." Crystal added. "Since before I became the queen."

"You sure you're not closer than that?" Nya teased.

"It's hard to tell with him." Crystal's tail flicked towards the incubus. "Sometimes I feel he's just in it for the fame." Ricardo gave her a hurt look that was clearly fake.

"Hey, I care a lot about you." He protested. "The fame is fun but I'd rather see my closest friend safe."

"Guys!" Lloyd ran over to us. "Why did you leave me behind!?" He looked confused and a little upset, Aurora right behind him. The little blue fox growled softly at Ricardo. It seemed all the pokemon hated him. The guy was kind of a jerk, yeah, but even friendly little Zapper hated his guts.

"Sorry, Lloyd." Cole laughed softly. "We were sort of in a hurry. Don't worry, we got our karma. We got stuck in a cave when it started raining." Lloyd grumbled as he walked back with us.

"I tried to tell them they forgot you." Fern had slowed down to comfort the green ninja. "None of them would listen." Ok, that was a lie. Even she forgot him. None of us said anything. One reason being it was difficult to be mad at Fern and the other being the fact that we didn't want to wake up with our heads glued to our pillows. Thankfully, it seemed to work.

**This is a bit longer than I planned it to be. Next chapter will focus a little more on Ricky and Rael and they will finally decide to head back to Soti.**

**So what do you guys think? Should the ninja stay behind or take on a new form to enter Soti with them?**


	8. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long wait. Holidays, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and school have kept me from writing.**

**Also I hope you guys liked that remade first chapter. I wanted to make it less jumbled and easier to read. Still a wall of text but a better planned out wall of text.**

**Zane's P.O.V.**

The morning after our cave adventure was relatively quiet and peaceful. The pokemon were all fast asleep as were many of the others within the mansion. Kai and Ryna had fallen asleep on the couch while watching some movies late in the night and no one had bothered to wake them. I doubted either of them would be happy with their position when they woke up.

I decided to check on Raelgil to see how she was feeling. She still hadn't decided on

when to return to Soti and the rest of us were still thinking about whether or not to go with her. I knew there was a high possibility she would not return for a long time when she left.

Raelgil glanced over at me as I entered the room. For once, Ricardo was not there with her. I was relieved and concerned at the same time. The incubus was rather annoying, often making small comments when I changed her bandages or cleaned her wound while she was injured, though I suppose Raelgil felt better with him around. The half demon queen shifted with unease as I sat on the bed. She must have felt like a sitting duck without Ricardo by her side.

"Where is Ricardo?" I asked her quietly, keeping my distance. I did not want to make her feel trapped. Even if she trusted us, she still did not entirely feel safe. I thought back to what she had said the day before, how she and Ricardo knew each other before she became the queen. This could have very well been the first time since then she had been alone without him.

"He went to visit his adopted sister, Neela." Raelgil explained, her tail flicking. "I saw him talking with Fern earlier. We might have another roommate soon."

"He has a sister?" I asked, a little confused. Ricardo had never mentioned a sister before. Perhaps that was why he was so similar to Kai. Both of them had a protective instinct from caring for a little sibling.

"Adopted." Raelgil corrected. "She's a half elf that Ricardo pretty much raised. I'm not exactly sure how they met, though I've seen her a few times before." The room grew quiet.

A loud shout alerted us that Kai and Ryna had woken up. I let out a soft chuckle as Kai rushed past the room, his face red. I could not tell if it was anger or embarrassment. Raelgil let out a soft purr her eyes sparkling with amusement. Ryna soon walked in, a rather upset look upon her face.

"Why dinnae any of you dolts wake me up?" She snapped. As time went on and she began to grow more comfortable she began to let her accent show more often. Even though none of us understood half of what she said from time to time, we usually got the message. Raelgil, fortunately, was kind enough to translate for us.

"We didn't want to interrupt your cuddle time with Kai." Raelgil replied. I tried my best to stay out of this. As amusing as it was, I did not want to risk getting stabbed.

"I don't want to kip with that man! Imagine the terrible things my da would do to him if he found out!" Ryna retorted. "And no, I do _not _fancy him, and it's very doubtful I ever will." I guessed by 'fancy' she meant 'attracted to'. It was a little more than obvious that she admired Kai, though as far as her romantic attraction went I could not tell. Not long before that little incident, Ryna had actually challenged Kai to a little sparring match. I didn't watch it, though from how the two acted afterwards, Kai must have won.

"We were all tired." I shrugged. "We did not wish to be yelled at." Ryna growled as she walked out of the room. Raelgil's ears twitched.

"Ricky must be back." She mumbled softly. It didn't take long for a rather loud conversation to erupt from downstairs. Ricardo was yelling in Soti's language so I could not understand what he was saying though I could hear Ryna's loud and clear since she was on the staircase.

"Oh, stop your bellowing you daft clumpy dumplet!"

"Petranas yth shio vucot wux tuor Kai ekess tar wux stoda ekess jacida drekiw!"

"For the last time, I do not fancy that fire ball! And ye're one to talk! I've seen the way you stare at Rael's arse!"

"I do no such thing!"

I watched as Kai stormed past. He must have heard the argument.

"Ok, I don't know what you two are fighting about, but can you leave me out of it!?" I heard him shout. I shook my head, chuckling softly. Raelgil rolled her eyes, looking out towards the window. Her attention quickly turned to the doorway as Ricardo walked back into the room.

"You're back early." Raelgil stated. "Is something wrong?" Ricardo walked over and sat down, scratching her ear with a brown hand as he stared at the floor.

"No." He answered after a while. I got to my feet and said a hasty goodbye before I left. It was probably best to leave them alone.

**Ricardo's P.O.V**

"Ricky, if something happened you need to tell me." Raelgil gave me a concerned look as Zane quickly left the room. I still wasn't sure I trusted that ninja, even if he did help Rael. Something about him just didn't seem right. He was way too kind and Rael made it obvious she knew something about him that I would probably really like to know.

"Nothing's wrong." I answered with an irritated sigh. "Neela didn't want to come back with me is all." Well, Raelgil wasn't the only one with secrets. The main reason I decided to visit my little sister was to ask her a favor. She agreed to do it, but only at the tunnels.

I saw Rael frown, but she didn't pester me any more about it. I lightly ran my hand through her hair, letting my tail gently curl around hers. After a few moments I laid beside her, wrapping my wings protectively around her as I pulled her close. She let out a soft purr, burying her face in my chest. I smiled a little, pulling the blanket over us to give her some sort of relief from the autumn air.

A curse escaped my throat as pain flared through my right hand. I gripped it, trying to hide my agony from Rael. She immediately sat up and grabbed it, gently rubbing it to keep it warm.

"Rael, I'm fine." I told her. I didn't bother stopping her, she'd just grab my hand again anyway.

"If you'd let me heal it for you, you wouldn't be having this problem." She hissed softly. I let out a long sigh. This always happened when my hand started hurting. She would try to help in anyway possible and remind me that she could always fix it.

"I don't want to risk that." I slowly pulled my hand away when it stopped hurting. "You could kill yourself doing that."

"At least you wouldn't have to live with this pain anymore." She replied softly as she laid back down. I pulled her close to me again.

"I'd rather live a life of pain then to never see your face again." I whispered, rubbing her back gently. Raelgil mumbled something too soft for me to hear as her eyes closed. After a few moments she squirmed and forced them open. I could tell she was fighting the urge to sleep. I laughed softly and wrapped my wings around her, pulling the blanket up as far as it could go without covering her head.

"Stop." She hissed softly. "I don't want to end up falling asleep.

"It's a little late to be saying that." I joked. "Just get some rest, you need it. We'll head off later when everyone's fully awake. No use leading them there half asleep."

"I never said we were heading out today." Raelgil protested.

"Well, you can't keep procrastinating against your job as queen." I pointed out. "We have to head back as soon as possible."

"I'm not procrastinating." She mumbled as she drifted off again. I smiled, watching her.

During our travels I always carried a bottle of sleeping pills with me due to me having bad insomnia. We stayed in different rooms at inns so we could have some alone time to ourselves before we set off again, so I never really learned about Raelgil's problem for a long while.

At one point I ended up running out of sleeping pills and the town we were staying in didn't have any stores that carried them. I was pretty much stuck without them for the next few nights. During this time I just sat awake, only getting maybe an hour of sleep each night. One of these nights I was sitting in bed awake, waiting for the sun to rise. At about midnight I heard Rael shriek. I was immediately out of bed and in her room, a knife in my hand and my hair a hanging mess around my face. Raelgil wasn't injured, but I could see her squirming and kicking in her sleep. Once I got over my shock and realized what was going on, I set the knife on the dresser nearby and quickly got into the bed and held her close, trying to wake her. I didn't ask her what the nightmare was about after I had gotten her to wake up.

"_Rael, do you have these every night?" _I asked her. She nodded silently. I held her close for the rest of the night, letting her fall asleep in my arms and waking her again when the sun rose. After that I stopped taking the pills. Eventually I even stayed in the same room with her to make sure I was there and I could stop the nightmare before it got too bad. We got pretty used to sleeping in the same bed after that and I eventually got this mental tick that would let me know if she would have a nightmare that night or not. It always seemed to happen in a pattern so I could easily get some sleep on the nights she would sleep peacefully.

I watched her sleep for a few minutes before I took one of my sleeping pills and cuddled up close to her so I would fall asleep faster.

**Zane's P.O.V.**

Later on in the day Raelgil had asked us to come down to the living room. We all knew what she was going to say, though we let her explain.

"I have to return to Soti." She informed us. "I want you all to come with me, though seeing as you cannot stay human if you wish to come, this is your choice."

"I'd like to come." Nya spoke up quickly. "I might be able to find Togepi's mother."

"If Nya's going then, so am I." Jay grinned as Zapper barked in agreement.

"I might as well go to make sure that Jay doesn't get you guys killed." Kai jokingly added. Blaze huffed and rolled his eyes, though his fluffy tail was wagging. Lloyd and Aurora shared a glance before Lloyd gave his answer.

"I kind of want to see it too." He shrugged. Outnumbered, Cole and I agreed to come along as well.

"Would Fern have to change as well or is she alright?" Cole questioned, looking over at his old friend. Raelgil frowned, as if she was unsure herself.

"Honestly, I am not entirely sure." She answered. "Seeing as she is no longer considered a human I guess she'll be alright."

"How exactly are you going to transform us?" I asked. Iceli sat beside me, examining his claws as if he were avoiding the conversation. I suppose he was a little nervous. After all, Ninjago was the only continent he had known before Raelgil told us about Soti.

"Neela will help." Ricardo finally spoke up. "I asked her before I returned this morning. She's agreed to use some of her magic to transform you, however it can only be temporary. Once you step off Soti's shore you will immediately go back to being human and she is unsure of whether you can go back to your supernatural forms or not."

"If possible I could ask a friend to create some talismans that could allow you to shift between forms at will." Raelgil's tail flicked, as she shot Ricardo a glare. He must not have told her about his sister being the one to change us. "This could take a while so you will have to deal with your temporary transformation."

"Wait, this won't hurt will it?" Jay asked as Zapper hopped around the room chasing Sylph.

"It shouldn't." Ricardo answered. "I've never had it done to me so I honestly don't know. Sorry." Raelgil elbowed him in the side.

"You're not helping." She hissed.

"I'm not trying to." Ricardo retorted.

"We should hurry." Raelgil glared at the incubus for a few more moments. "We've got a long walk ahead of us and I want to get to the mountain pass before sundown."

It didn't take to long for us to reach the tunnel. The walk through it was long and relatively silent other than for the short conversations our pokemon shared between each other. I couldn't tell how long it took for us to reach the other side, but by the time we found the exit the sun was already over halfway through the sky.

"That was a short tunnel for being under the sea." Jay noted as he looked around. The area around us was mostly bare with a shrub here or there. The mountains stretched out in front of us blocked the view of what lay ahead.

"Some say it's a mystery dungeon." Ryna looked over at Jay. "I doubt it but there's something weird about it, that's for sure."

"What exactly is a mystery dungeon?" Fern asked. It was the first time she had talked all day. She and Cole still seemed to be avoiding each other, but they were gradually getting closer.

"A mystery dungeon is a place where the layout is never the same. It can be anything; a forest, lake, even a desert." Ryna explained. "No one knows exactly how they work, but they always change. They never have the same paths, the treasures there always change, even the pokemon who live there are odd."

"Pokemon actually live in those places?" Kai questioned. Ryna nodded.

"Yeah, but they're insane. Most of the time they attack without warning. Some people claim it's the air but the outsiders are never affected." Ryna answered. "But once you defeat them they start to get confused on where they are and seem to snap out of whatever was making them attack." Kai frowned but he didn't ask anything else.

"It's about time you got here!" We turned our attention to someone heading our way. Her green hair and eyes stood out among the dull colors of the rocks around us. "I've been waiting for hours, what took you so long!?"

"In my defense the tunnel was shorter last time I went through it." Raelgil replied calmly to the furious female. Now that she was closer I could see she was in fact an elf, her pointed ears giving it away.

"Neela, we need to hurry." Ricardo grumbled. "Just turn these guys into monsters and let's get going. We need to be through the mountains by sundown." 'Neela' sighed and turned to us.

"Ignoring my impatient brother and my soon to be sister in law, hi." She greeted. Raelgil scowled while Ricardo looked ready to strangle his adoptive sister. Neela didn't seem to notice or care. Ricardo snapped something at her in the same language he often used to communicate with Raelgil. I heard Neela snap something back before she mumbled something under her breath.

**Kai's P.O.V.**

A little warning would have really been nice. The transformation happened pretty fast, but the blinding light was something I could have done without. Even after it was over I had to wait a minute before I could see. When I finally did get my vision back it had completely changed.

Colors seemed to stand out a lot better and I could pick out little details of leaves and rocks that were no where near close to me. At least I knew what it was like to half falcon vision. A weight on my back made me turn my head. Two large reddish-brown wings that turned from orange to yellow towards at the primaries were attached to by back, and a long thin tail with long feathers the same color of my wings trailed behind me. The feathers towards the tip turned from orange to yellow just like my wings. The tail looked kind of primitive, like those feathered dinosaurs you'd see in a museum.

"I thought my tail would be more birdlike." I stated as I turned my attention back to the others.

"Phoenixes are ancient beings." The half demon queen pointed out. "They've kept their primitive appearances through the ages. Their beaks are lined with tiny teeth, though their wings have lost their claws over time. The recent generation of phoenixes seem to have lost their teeth but their tails remain the same for whatever reason. As far as I know the feathers used to be longer and more heavier. I suppose they've gotten smaller to make flight easier."

Nya was also a phoenix with the same markings, however instead of a reddish-brown her main feather color was black. The yellow and orange markings on her wings and tail tip were more faded and took up less of the feathers than mine.

"Explain what I am, please?" I turned my attention to Cole. I almost laughed at the poor guy. His ears were now foxlike and instead of one tail he had nine fluffy black tails. The brown and black markings reminded me of a husky tail, black on tip and brown on the bottom with a little brown tip.

"You are a kitsune." Crystal answered. "Not sure _why_ as a more earthly creature such as a golem would fit you but it works. I guess. Kitsunes are famous for trickery but some are known to be faithful guardians."

"And what's Zane, a vampire?" I joked as I looked at him. Zane had a pair of bat-like wings on his back and his eyes were rimmed with red. Other than that he didn't really change.

"Actually yes." Neela answered. "Usually vampries only have wings if they have demon blood in their veins. I guess the spell just made him a vampire because he's technically immortal already?"

"Wait, how did you know about Zane being a Ninjroid?" Jay asked. He didn't change at all save for the pointy ears. He must have been turned into an elf.

"News travels." Neela answered, walking away. "Come on. Also, little blondie, you're a feathered dragon." Lloyd's tail flicked. Like me, his tail was long and thin, but his were covered in smaller green feathers more similar to the ones on a bird's body. The feathers at the tip however were long and golden colored, and his wings had an array of colors from green, to gold, to red, in that order.

"How come I'm a _feathered_ dragon?" He grumbled. "Feathers are soft and don't do much to protect you."

"They keep you warm." Jay pointed out, trying to help. I don't think it worked to well because Lloyd still looked kind of upset.

We followed Neela, her rageful brother and the queen through the mountains in excitement. We avoided being too loud, but it was easy to hear Jay and Lloyd even though they were at the back. Fern was chatting quietly with Cole, which I was happy for. Fern hadn't been changed since she wasn't exactly a human. I was pretty sure Cole would be somewhat protective of her though, in case something did try to attack her. It seemed she was finally beginning to warm back up to him. I swear I saw one of his tails wag at some point. As for Nya, she was constantly blinking, a confused frown on her face.

"Still getting used to the sight?" I asked. She nodded.

"It's so weird." She answered. "It's cool being able to see like this but I'm kind of having trouble focusing on things. It's so easy to get caught up on some new color or detail. How do birds even live with this?"

"I guess it's because they were born with it." I shrugged. "I'm sure we'll get used to it. Just try not to fall off a cliff." Nya shoved me playfully, trying to hide a grin on her face.

I glanced back at Ryna. She was talking with Crystal about something I couldn't hear. I had to force myself to look away from her. With my enhanced vision her silver eyes seemed a lot more sharp and bright.

Out pokemon were relatively silent, most likely stunned from our sudden transformation. Comet refused to rest on my shoulder as he usually did, flying ahead and constantly looking back at me.

Eventually we came to a resting point where we could finally sit down and rest our aching feet. Ricardo and Crystal were quietly arguing about something, but I didn't bother trying to hear it.

"Will we be here all night?" Jay asked, looking over at them. The two stopped their bickering and grew quiet for a moment.

"We're not sure yet." Crystal answered. "There's been an increase of avalanches in the road ahead lately, mostly around nightfall. We could make it through the pass before then, but we're not entirely sure."

"Rael and I will head out a little ways to make sure it's safe. Stay here until we return, understand?" Ricardo added, looking over at his sister. Neela gave him a defiant glare.

The two headed off, still bickering under their breath. I turned my attention to Ricardo's sister.

"So, what was that 'future sister in law' comment about?" I asked. Neela laughed a little.

"Isn't it obvious?" She replied. "Ricardo's probably going to court Rael some time soon."

"What?" Lloyd asked. "Why are they going to court, I thought they were friends." Neela frowned.

"Sorry, forgot you guys aren't from here." She mumbled. "I think you guys use the word 'propose'?"

"They already argue like a married couple so I just assumed they were already together." Nya smiled. Neela laughed again.

"If they are, then they haven't shown it." Neela shrugged. "Rael's not too affectionate. She doesn't enjoy anyone hugging her, even Ricardo as far as I know. Unless they've already, well," She coughed and paused for a minute. "Either way neither of them have said anything about being more than close friends." Zane listened in silence. He was probably nervous about his new body. He must have been worried about hurting one of us on accident.

Cole suddenly became alert, his fox-like ears twitching.

"Everyone, get over here!" He shouted. We scrambled over to him without a second thought. In seconds we were covered by a protective shield of rock and earth as the mountain began to suddenly shake. I glanced over at Fern to make sure she was alright. She was shaking, clearly terrified. I edged closer and wrapped one of my wings around her in an attempt to calm her. Cole gave me a thankful glance.

Cole waited for a few minutes after the rumbling stopped before he lowered the shield. Around us were fragments of boulders or rocks lying around that weren't there before. A broken tree or two lay on one side of the path.

"I guess the rockslides have gotten here too." Cole grumbled. I unwrapped my wing from around Fern who still looked a bit frightened.

"_Is she alright?_" I kept myself still, my wings shifting the only sign of my surprise, as Cole's voice echoed in my head.

"_She's still a bit shaken up but she's fine._" I thought, hoping he could hear. "_How are you doing this?_"

"_I decided to try it out._" Cole answered. "_Ryna told me a while earlier that Kitsunes can use telepathy. Thanks for looking after Fern back there._"

"_Yeah, don't expect me to do it all the time. You need to protect her too you know._" I joked. Cole hid a smile as he asked Fern personally if she was alright. Fern nodded quietly.

"Let me go!" I turned to see Zane holding Neela back while she tried to run off.

"It is too dangerous." Zane snapped. "You need to stay here."

"I'll go look for Crystal and Ricardo." Cole spoke up. "Neela, you need to stay here. I don't have enough strength to pull off another shield like that. All of you stay safe and keep close to the cliffside."

**Cole's P.O.V.**

I was glad for my earth abilities. Without them we'd all have probably been crushed. I stayed alert, making sure that no other rockslides would happen anytime soon. Luckily that seemed that the mountain was calm. I quickened my pace, eager to make sure that our guides were alright.

I found Ricardo trying to wake Crystal, a terrified look on his face. One of his wings lay limp beside him, a tear in the membrane close to his body. A small crater lay nearby, the rocks stained with blood.

"What happened?" I rushed over. There was no way Ricardo's small tear could have caused that much blood, yet Crystal showed no obvious injuries. She looked to be unconscious, her eyes closed peacefully.

"When the rockslide hit I pinned her down and covered her with my wings." Ricardo answered quickly. He didn't even try to hide the panic in his voice. "A rock hit my wing and crushed it, almost tearing it off. After it ended she healed me but…" He trailed off, holding his unconscious friend close.

"What do you mean she healed you?" I questioned. Ricardo didn't answer me for a while.

"Rael is able to heal other people. A dragon friend of hers taught her." He finally spoke, though his voice was pretty soft. "The problem is that she uses her own energy to heal people. It could kill her if she uses it too much." His uninjured wing dropped in sorrow.

"I'll get the others. We need to get to the castle by sundown, right?" I asked, changing the subject quickly. Ricardo nodded but didn't speak.

Neela quietly scolded him for being so reckless while we continued walking. Ricardo stayed silent the rest of the way. He carried Crystal by himself, refusing to let anyone help. His injured wing dragged on the ground but he didn't show any sign of pain. His fear for Crystal's life was probably keeping him distracted.

"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Nya asked him quietly. Ricardo shook his head.

"No." He answered. "The only thing we can do is wait and see if she lives."

"Ricardo!" We turned our attention to someone walking over to us. It was that same blue wolf, Akuma, that we met back at the cave. "What happened to Raelgil?"

"I'll explain later." Ricardo answered. "We need to get to the castle right away so I can get her in a bed." Akuma frowned and nodded, leading us to a pretty medieval looking castle. It didn't have a fancy moat around it, but it was at the middle of a large city. Luckily no one was in the streets.

**No One's P.O.V.**

Ricardo silently paced about the room as he waited for Raelgil to wake. She was currently laying in her bed, showing no sign of waking. He let out a long sigh and sat down on the bed, his red tail flicking back and forth anxiously. He immediately turned to his friend when he felt movement.

"Rael?" He whispered. "Are you alright?" He laid down beside her, lightly brushing her hair from her face. The half demon slowly blinked her eyes open, her ears twitching slightly. She let out a soft groan and attempted to sit up. Ricardo immediately held her down.

"Don't move." He snapped. "You need to rest." Raelgil looked up at him, ears laid back.

"What was I supposed to do?" She said slowly, still trying to recover from her exhaustion. "Leave you to die?"

"You shouldn't have wasted so much energy." Ricardo growled. "You could have died!"

"I don't see why you care so much." Raelgil hissed softly. "I could easily be replaced."

"No, you can't." Ricardo retorted. "No one could replace you." He pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers. Raelgil lay still in shock, her ears laid back. Ricardo quickly broke the kiss and pressed his forehead gently against hers. Raelgil stared at him in stunned silence.

"Don't you get it?" He whispered. "You have been more than just a simple friend or queen to protect. You are probably the only female I'd be able to spend my entire life with." The half demon didn't reply, still in shock from the events of the day. She eventually buried her face in his chest in an attempt to hide her reddening face. Ricardo smiled.

"I didn't know you cared this much." Raelgil murmured. "I'd be glad to call you my mate if you are really willing to put up with me for the rest of our lives."

"I've lived with you for this long." Ricardo replied. "If I ever wanted to leave you it would have been before you became queen. I'm not abandoning you now." Raelgil let out a soft purr.

**Wow this is probably the longest chapter so far. Hope this makes up for those couple of months without an update. I'll be writing more chapters later but for now I need my sleep. If you guys have got any questions feel free to ask them!**


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